the story could have been made somewhat interesting if there was some indication
as to how BYU has done compared with other programs--i.e. is it better or worse
than average and keeping happy the big recruit? is it good at developing the big
recruit? this article doesn't say that and since I don't follow recruiting, I
have no way of knowing.

A changing landscape for recruits going forward at BYU. It used to be that a
recruit - especially a QB - could expect national attention which could project
into the NFL (Giff Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco,
Ty Detmer, John Beck and Max Hall). Most of these QB's were strong armed pocket
passers that led the nation in passing and were first team All Americans. Even
Detmer was a pure pocket passer which led to a 11 year NFL career and the
Heisman trophy. BYU prospered because of these QB's gaining national attention
and posting their lofty stats. It was a great pattern that led to BYU being
labeled "QB U". So now here we are in 2011 with a new offensive
coordinator and new agenda going forward. BYU is now not interested in the
pocket passers that built the program over the past 30 years but instead they
have elected to go with the mobile running style QB. Don't expect any more blue
chip high school QB's to take a second look at BYU anymore with their "new
reputation". They look at Jake Heaps and see that he didn't fit and that
speaks volumes.

Question: Would LDS players who live the gospel promote the Church's mission
better by playing on other teams or by coming to BYU? Can BYU really compete at
the top with schools like Kentucky's one and done program. The one and done
program recruits the most talented players who have the best chance of going to
the NBA to come and play one year at UK and pay little to no attention to
academics. And leave for the draft after showcasing their talents. Do you really
believe that BYU could play, consistently, with LSU or Alabama? Another
question: Is the primary purpose of a University to provide rabid fans for their
sports programs? Or should BYU follow the example of their lil sibling in Idaho?
Just wondering.

Re: Oblio-- I agree with you, which is why this is a double yawner response from
me. I think what you suggested would be an outstanding topic for an in-depth
article. But, we don't read of too many in-depth sports articles in the DN.

Re: The Rock-- Sorry bud. But wherever Jake goes, unless it's to a
lower-level Div. II school, the NCAA transfer rules require Jake to sit out a
year. Which is why his transfer 2 years into the Cougs program, w/ a red-shirt
year still available to take, is a little perplexing. It will be very difficult,
bordering on impossible, for Jake to have any type of NFL-impact experience at
another school. I think there was probably a stronger possibility of that if he
stayed, swallowed his pride, sit out next year, and hit it harder than hard his
last two years truly leading the Cougs. But I also agree with you that Jake is a
very gifted athlete; I think its his leadership and maturity or lack thereof
that many such as I question. Hopefully he lands on his feet somewhere.

Jim McMahon
and Steve Young were hardly pocket passers, especially Young far from it in
fact. And yet they were the best QB to come out of BYU. In case you didn't
watch the last game Riley did everything from the pocket and I think he has a
stronger arm than Max Hall did(go check out some of those Hall's games there is
not a lot of zip).

Fact is, tight spirals flying at 60 mph are nice
only if they hit their mark. We're in this to win and we're going to play the
guy that gets it done regardless of the style he does it.

Why do these guys bother to sign with a program like BYU that is obviously a
sinking ship? Everyone besides me knows all too well they can serve the LDS
Church better by signing on with another BCS program, even Utah than playing at
a program that is quickly losing any and all relevance from its heyday during
the 1980s.

I know I'll upset a number of readers with this, but the
LDS Church leadership should listen to those amongst them that wish to at the
very least drop the football program at BYU, and just continue to offer the
intercolligiate sports the WCC participates in...that is an acceptable
comproimise than going the distance as was done up in Rexburg a decade ago.

It shouldn't and should NEVER be the mission of BYU to compete with and
take away from the mission of state schools, not just Utah but Utah State as
well. All BYU has done for the past half century is crowd out the mission of an
important state school in Logan.

Heaps was afraid of contact, either because he wanted to preserve his skin or
his NFL prospects. He was also a guy who didn't think of team, first. He won't
fare better with competition elsewhere. I hope he transfers to the U, where he
will have to sit out for a year anyway. Then he can throw interceptions to his
former teammates, instead of to opposing DBs.

Coach Mendenehall had Heaps just like Coach Crowton had Olsen, two high school
blue chips that failed to materialize at BYU. I think BYU's efforts to get a
blue chip QB high school recruit will be viewed in disdain by these type of
players as they see how Olson and Heaps were treated. Recruitment will hurt more
with these type of players, especially when comparing BYU's schedule as an
independent against teams that play in a BCS conference as those teams get the
sports ranking notice, media coverage and NFL scouts. BYU's schedules for the
next three years don't show a schedule like if BYU was in the Big12 conference
and instead they have a majority of teams from MWC and WAC conference level or
non BCS conferences. BYU's 8 year EPSN contract is how much as Texas has ESPN
contract and still in Big 12 or is it like Notre Dame contract with NBC?

@#1 SLC Sports FanYou stated that "It shouldn't and should NEVER be
the mission of BYU to compete with and take away from the mission of state
schools, not just Utah but Utah State as well. All BYU has done for the past
half century is crowd out the mission of an important state school in
Logan."

It sounds like you are saying that the mission of Utah
and Utah State is to have a football team? What happened to academics?

I could
easily flip it around and say that state schools shouldn't compete with the
mission of a certain church school in Provo and it would sound almost equally as
ridiculous!

And why should they drop the football program again?
There is absolutely no good reason to do that, and a million good reasons to
keep it and continue to promote it... actually several million a year from ESPN!
Nice try!

@RonBergudy - no you are wrong. sitting out a year means a school year, football
season. it means fall and spring semesters. if he transfers he has to sit out a
football season year. He can play spring ball but only after he has sat out a
fall season. meaning he can't be on the team or practice or anything.

This isn't intended to be a Utah fan posting a negative comment about BYU but
just an observation. Discounting the current players there appears to be only
one 4 or 5 star recruit that even had a brief stint in the NFL. 2 QB's
transferred and other that didn't turn into great players. Seems like BYU has
had more success turning 2 and 3 star prospects into NFL caliber player than
they have had dealing with 4 and 5 star recruits.

@ JP Skillet: You can still
practice while "sitting out" your eligibility. It's like redshirting.
Do you think Matt Carlino isn't practicing with the basketball team? My friend
Riley Jensen was an awesome QB in spring practices of '97, (Feterik, Shoemaker),
but saw writing on the wall and transferred to USU and was a beast in their fall
'97 and spring '98 practices the next year where he won the starting job.

@ #1 SLC Sports Fan: "...crowd out the mission..."? What?

@ RonBergundy: Jake WON'T be playing FBS football next fall. Boom?

@ CO Ute: Good call. It seems that is the tradition at BYU. Make the
most with the good talent you have, but not a very good track record with the
blue chips.

Another interesting parallel to look at with Jake Heaps is Matt Berry.Another highly rated Washington QB with lots of schools recruiting him. Failed
to win the team's confidence because he failed to show some spunk.

Just like top draft picks often fail in the pros, top high school players often
fail in college. Jake Heaps had plenty of opportunity to succeed. He failed. He
quit. A quitter and a failure.

What coach would want a quitter and a
failure?

As for Ben Olsen, he transferred to UCLA from his mission.
He changed his mind. Just as Carlino and Kavienga changed their minds. It
happens. This does not reflect on the school or the team. "BYU does not
know how to deal with top athletes..." is a bogus and stupid argument.

Actually, just as USC could not deal with the talented head case Todd
Marinovich, BYU could not deal with Jake Heaps. Entitlement is the problem. Let
him go, and good luck to him. Maybe he'll learn.

to #1 Sports Fan: huh? all BYU has done for 50 years is crowd out the mission
of USU? what is the mission of USU? I thought it was to take kids that
could not get into BYU or even the UofU and educate them in freezing weather.
What BYU has or has not accomplished in sports takes nothing away from whatever
USU is trying to do, any more so than it takes away from what ASU or UCLA is
trying to do. I doubt any of these kids on this particular top 10 list gave
USU even a sniff.

to the Rock: I don't see how you make the statement that Heaps is a
"remarkably gifted athlete". did he play other sports well in high
school? can he scramble and make plays when things are breaking down? is he
fast? none of these. he does have a strong arm but as one commenter said, if
you can't hit the target what does a strong arm do for you? I'm glad for Jake
that he is leaving and hope he finds himself somewhere else. But to do will
require a hard look into the mirror, not into whether some coach elsewhere will
solve the problems. McMahon swallowed his pride to redshirt - look what it did
for him. Beck took his knocks and kept working hard. Beck also was very
competitive. And as Doman said, Heaps might be as good as Jimmer some day but
only if he works as hard as Jimmer does. He has not.

I would like to see a similar story on Utah's top recruits. The truth is that
you look at any team's top recruits or draft choices, and most end up
underachieving according to the expectations of unrealistic fans. In the NBA,
for example, look at highly rated draft choices as Chris Morris, Danny Ferry,
Christian Laettner, Kwame Brown, Darko -- it's not too hard to put together a
list of highly sought players who did not meet expectations. In basketball it's
pretty easy to spot players with NBA potential, but many do not succeed. In
football, it's much harder to guess which players have NFL potential. In the
eyes of many fans, a highly rated recruit is a failure if he never excels in the
pros, and so most are destined to fail to meet those expectations.